


Xavier's School for Completely Unfair Youngsters

by FilmInMySoul



Category: X-Men - All Media Types, Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - X-Men Fusion, Control Issues, F/M, M/M, Sleep Trouble, They still have powers, brief Americ/Eli, they are all mutants, this took me forever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-16
Updated: 2015-06-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 15:58:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4143777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FilmInMySoul/pseuds/FilmInMySoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Billy and Tommy's mutations presented themselves at a young age. The way it happened wasn't pretty… "</p>
<p>The Young Avengers are mutants that attend Xavier's School for Gifted  Youngsters instead of being, well, Avengers. Follow Billy as he meets new arrival Teddy and waxes over how completely unfair the blonde just happens to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Xavier's School for Completely Unfair Youngsters

**Author's Note:**

> So this was a fill for one of the many Billy and Teddy ideas I thought up which can be found along with the other Billy and Teddy idea fills here - http://fearlessandproud.tumblr.com/billyandteddy
> 
> This took me about two weeks to finish, most of those days were spent editing the heck out of it. This turned into something giant and monstrous. I had only set out for maybe 4k works, tops, and I'm sure by the word count you can all tell it didn't stay that short.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this and what will come after :)

Billy and Tommy's mutations presented themselves at a young age. The way it happened wasn't pretty… sometimes Billy wondered if it ever was. Billy, cursed with the ability some could only fathom to call "Magic", had nearly killed someone with his electrokinetic power; it was only one side of his mutation. Tommy was gifted with the ability to speed up his molecules body as well as the molecules of anything he touched. Once, he had gotten too excited while playing outside with friends and touched their shed. It exploded into fire and chips of wood. To say their parents weren’t happy wasn’t even close.

At the age of eight the twins were placed with Charles Xavier at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. They weren't happy. Eight-year-olds never are.

Billy had the most trouble. Together, the two shared a room until age eleven when Tommy insisted that he didn't need to share one with his nerd of a brother just because they were related. Billy didn't put up a fight. They were still close. He understood Tommy's need for separation, to make his own identity. They still looked out for each other.

By age thirteen, Tommy had managed to burn through (not literally) four girlfriends and lived to tell the tales, even though any one of his ex's mutations probably could have killed him. Tommy just had a thing for dangerous girls. For Billy, it was the year that he came to terms with the fact he didn't really like girls as much as he liked boys. One slightly awkward conversation with Professor Xavier made him feel alright again, because in a universe of billions he wasn't alone and the professor had shown him that. Tommy had been cooler about it than Billy expected. He'd punched him in the shoulder and mockingly huffed out a "duh," and that was that.

By age fifteen, Tommy had finally settled down (or as settled as a high-strung mutant teenager could be) with Kate Bishop. Her mutation was that she had enhanced eyesight and hand-eye coordination that made it so she almost never missed her target. She was Tommy's most dangerous girlfriend to date. His friend Cassie, a girl who could grow and shrink to amazing sizes, was dating their mutual friend Nate – a genius who, with great effort, could step through time. Eli and America were the other members of their ragtag team as well as happily single. Billy was not happily single. Single, yes. Happy, no.

He had gotten a crush once, the boy could only be described as "bad news." That had ended badly. Really, really badly. Not because he had told Kesler he had liked him, no, Billy still shuddered to think of what would have happened. It had ended badly because the boy had turned out to be a complete and total homophobic jerk. Billy learned his lesson. He no longer liked bad boys.

By age seventeen, Tommy was still with Kate, Cassie and Nate were an on and off thing, and America and Eli tried to date, but it didn't go well. America outed herself and Eli took it in stride. They made their friendship work and still Billy was single, not that he thought on it much. He had other things to worry about, like the appearance of new mutants that arrived moments before.

Their group all watched as the new array of students made their ways through the doors of the manor, some looked scared, others memorized by the open arms they were presented with. Storm had left earlier in the week to collect the five that were standing in the walkway of the school.

The first two through the doors were normal looking – a boy and a girl. The boy had green eyes but a black cap with a gold pattern on and he was smirking, looking to cause trouble. The girl was calmer, brown hair tucked back in a braid and her hands in her pockets, only a backpack on her shoulders.

Behind them was a boy who caught Billy's eyes the most. He was blonde, blue eyed and at least six foot two and twice as wide as Billy is in terms of form and muscles. His ears were lined with silver studs and cuffs, at least six on one and maybe four on the other, a lot more than Billy's single studded ear. The blonde dressed easily in cargo pants and black sneakers, he wore a white wife beater under a red plaid shirt and his wrists were encased in two brown leather cuffs. Billy knew he was done for the second the boy smiled at the crowd of kids.

Two more mutants came through. This boy was older, maybe in his twenty’s, wearing what Billy at first had assumed where metal gloves. It took him looking a bit closer to realize that they were his actual hands. The other was girl, much shorter than the man she stood beside, around the same age as Billy and his friends. Her skin was a cherry red and her hair gave the impression of flames as each strand moved. Yet, Billy was still almost completely focused on the blonde.

Storm gave them all a look and signaled the group to move aside as to not crowd the new members of the school. When they passed, Storm stood beside the blonde boy and whispered something into his ear that Billy only caught the end of as they walked by. "...safe to show yourself..." Billy wasn't a hundred percent sure he knew what it meant, but he also knew it wasn't any of his business. So Billy followed Eli as he led their group to the back yard. They spent the rest of their evening doing homework together and speculating what the new students were capable of. Billy tried his best to not let his thoughts wander to the blonde with the silver lining his ears.

By dinner, the whole school was buzzing to know who the new mutants were. Billy found himself only really interested in one. As dinner ended Billy yawned deeply and Tommy gave him a look that meant he should probably head to bed. When the brunette was in his hall he paused at his door. The blonde was there too, a few doors down and across the way. It wasn’t surprising.

Billy was moved to one of the less occupied halls of the mansion on the night he'd had a nightmare and almost electrocuted Eli. If his friend hadn't been born with his mutation of fast reflexes and strength he probably wouldn't have made it outside the window in once piece from the two-story drop.

In all, Eli was still completely willing to share a room with Billy, even if the brunette had almost killed him. Billy wasn't as willing. Never in his life had he been more terrified of his ever growing powers.

In the end, he asked to be moved to one of the new wings of the mansion. It was a wing saved for mutants who had just arrived or couldn't be roomed with others due to safety concerns, and with all the new mutants that trickled into Xavier’s school, expansion was needed to keep up.

Sometimes Billy got lonely with his self-imposed solitude. Those days, Tommy would make some excuse to watch movies till midnight and claim it was too taxing for him to climb two flights of stairs to get to his room. It was lie. It always was. Billy was never more grateful for having the silver haired boy as his brother.

Before Billy could turn the knob to slip into his room he felt eyes on him. He turned his head and caught the stare. Frozen with his hand on the door all Billy could think was that the blonde’s eyes were really blue and really, really unfair. The blonde sent him a small smile and spoke clearly across the three doors and five feet of hall that separated them.

"Night."

Out of reflex and nerves Billy replied with "ditto," before turning the knob to his room and closing the door shut behind him.

Ditto? Really?! He was so screwed. Tommy was going to laugh at him.

By morning Billy was groggy and the alarm set for breakfast was going off and all he wanted to do was fall back into the sleep where he could picture blonde hair and silver ear cuffs in peace.

Despite sleep calling him back to its clutches the brunette slipped from his room and toward the showers with a towel and change of clothes under his arms. His eyes were still blurred with sleep as he neared the door to the bathroom where all the showers were. Not paying attention to the space in front of him Billy let a yawn pass his lips and stumbled into a body that he was sure had not been there moments before.

The force of the collision had Billy flailing before two hands were holding his shoulders as well as holding him in place.

"Sorry 'bout that." Billy felt a small something run through his sleepy body as he looked up into a pair of blue eyes he was sure that he would never get used to seeing. Billy flushed. The blonde had clearly just left the showers, his hair was damp and little beads of water were caught on his neck and tumbling down and connecting with others water droplets that would go further down his naked chest. Billy realized in a moment of embarrassed horror that he had been following the droplet with his eyes. He snapped his gaze back up to the blonde and blinked away sleep.

"No, um, completely my bad, uh, sorry," Billy backed up and out of the larger boys strong hands, his eyes finding the floor as he skirted around the other and into the bathroom. Billy closed the door quickly and slipped into the first open stall, locking the door. His breathing came a little faster and Billy let himself take a moment, eyes closed and head against the locked door of the stall, breathing in and out through his nose, pointedly not thinking about the blonde’s chest and how toned and well defined he was.  
Billy decided that a cold shower was best.

By the time he made it down to breakfast Tommy was already there with Kate and America. There was a plate waiting for him in Tommy's hand and together their small group headed out to eat on the lawn and compare homework. Tommy had clearly made his into a paper air plane at some point based on the folds and creases that littered the paper. Billy was completely positive that is was Kate who had made sure the paper was restored to its rightful form.

They finished quickly as the first bell of the day rang out and signaled that classes were going to start. Billy wasn't in advanced calculus with anyone but Cassie. The two of them split off from the group and rushed up a flight of stairs to get to Hank McCoy's class. The blue man didn't appreciate tardiness and Billy hadn't been late yet.

Sometimes Tommy liked to walk with them to their class as just to see how close to late he could be before speeding off. Clearly Kate had won the battle for his presence though and Billy didn't pay much attention to it as he and Cassie rounded the stairway.

They arrived right before the five-minute warning bell sounded and slipped into their seats easily enough. Billy sat by one of the large windows.

It was one of Billy's favorite things to do, staring at the grounds through the many windows. Sometimes when he felt like he needed to, the brunette would float himself up to the roof or take one of the few ways inside the house to get there. He liked to sit by the edge of the roof and watch as the night swallowed the sun with stars and moon light.

Of course sometimes he couldn't. Flying was one of the bigger mutations he had a problem controlling, but he'd been working on it.

By the time the final bell rang, there were fifteen students at their desks spread haphazardly around the room as Dr. McCoy stepped to the front of the class and cleared his throat to start the lecture. Before the blue man could even utter a mathematical term there was a knock on his door.

Mrs. Jean Gray led in the blonde boy that Billy had run into that morning and had said "ditto" to and it's completely unfair that he was apparently good at math too. The blonde looked around the room so Billy moved his eyes as to make it appear as though he had not, in fact, been looking at the boy so intently.

Mrs. Gray pulled Dr. McCoy aside and whispered something into his ear. He nodded in understanding. The red haired woman left the room and Dr. McCoy's class was silent as the blonde awkwardly shuffled his feet while the teacher observed him.

"This is Theodore Altman, he's just arrived last night and I expect you all to be courteous towards him and to help with any course work he might struggle with. Would you care to introduce yourself further Mr. Altman?" The blonde looked small while he stood at the front of the class and that completely surprised Billy. He didn't think it was possible for the mutant to look small, not with how much of him there was.

"Um, yeah, I guess." Theodore nodded at Dr. McCoy and the blue man gave him a smile for encouragement. "Um, I'm Theodore, well actually, uh, just call me Teddy, anyway, I'm Teddy Altman, I'm seventeen and that's um, that's pretty much it." Billy liked that name, Teddy, Theodore had seemed too proper for the blonde.

"What's your mutation?" A voice called out from the back of the room and Billy was pretty sure that it was Cassie's. She wasn't good with boundaries and sometimes didn't realize that people weren't always okay with talking about their mutations.

Teddy shifted on his feet again and Billy could tell he wasn't very comfortable with all the strangers that were staring at him. Billy figured it must have been off-putting.

"Um, I'm strong," Teddy emphasized this by turning to Dr. McCoy's desk and lifting it easily with both hands before setting it back down. A few students cheered and Dr. McCoy smiled again. "I also heal pretty fast," Teddy doesn't demonstrate but Billy was sure he wouldn't have been cool with seeing it confirmed anytime soon. A silence filled the room and their teacher watched Teddy closely.

"Is there anything else Mr. Altman?" Teddy's face turned away from him. There was. Everyone could tell.

"Um, I, well, it's better if I just show I guess." In the next moment Teddy's skin shifted from the pale human color to a green that spread from the center of his being to incase his whole body. The texture of his skin changed as well, more like scales. He grew a couple inches taller and a bit wider, his shoulders pressing at the seams of his shirt and it's like they are armor plated.

Billy thinks that it's completely unfair. It's unfair that Theodore "Teddy" Altman can look hot even as he's green and slightly scaly.

"This is how I usually look." Teddy shifted back into his more human appearance and the class started to clap wildly, Teddy's eyes moved around the room and for a moment landed on Billy. Billy wasn’t clapping like the others but he does smile his approval and acceptance of Teddy's mutation. Teddy relaxed visibly with the positive vibes he received from the other students.

Of course, after Teddy finished demonstrating his powers, everyone wanted to let off a little steam and display theirs as well. Billy wasn't among those people. Dr. McCoy came to his rescue and explained how Teddy will more than likely see everyone’s "gifts" in combat training with Mr. Logan. Their teacher thanked Teddy for his display and asked for the boy to find a seat as there are plenty open. Teddy smiled at the man and cast a blue gaze around the room before choosing a seat one up and over from Billy's.

As the class inched closer and closer to its end, Dr. McCoy asked for Teddy to come up and solve the problem that was across the board. Billy was in his seat thinking how completely unfair it all was. Seriously. Teddy was apparently really smart, his powers were amazing and a lot less destructive than Billy’s were, and he was also really attractive and eyes were amazing and it's so completely unfair that Billy has to fall into "like" so quickly with a boy where there is a fifty percent chance he was straight.

It was such a distracting line of thought that Billy didn't hear his name being called until Dr. McCoy had repeated it a few times.

"Mr. Kaplan, Mr. Kaplan, Billy." Billy looked up and flushed. This wasnt the first time that he'd found himself spacing out in the middle of the class but it was the first time that he had a startling set of blue eyes focused on him. Billy cleared his throat and looked up at the teacher.

"I'm sorry, um, yes?" Billy sat up a little straighter and looked to where Teddy was still standing by the board, a piece of chalk in his hands looking childishly small. Billy looked back to Dr. McCoy.

"I was asking if you knew why Mr. Altman didn't come to the correct solution to his problem." Billy looked back at the board, eyes sweeping the slightly messy scrawl that worked its way over the evergreen surface. It took him a moment to locate the misstep in the written thought process. Billy was sure that he would have made the same mistake.

When Billy nodded the teacher made a small gesture for Billy to come up and show the class. Billy pushed his chair away from his desk and walked to the front of the room. He could feel Teddy's eyes watching him as he moved. It was only somewhat unsettling. When he reached the board he grabbed another piece of chalk and set to work fixing the tiny mistake.

"You just forgot to divide the coefficients and carry over the excess." Billy circled the numbers and moved to a cleaner side of the board to complete the problem, this time with the correct numbers. That also brought him closer to the blonde and Billy could smell the soap that still lingered on his body from the few hours before. The brunette tried his hardest not to lean closer to that smell, it was all very distracting.

"Very well done Mr. Kaplan." Billy nodded and placed the piece of chalk that dusted his fingers white back where he had picked it up and headed back to his seat. Teddy followed him as their teacher gestured he could return to his seat. Dr. McCoy handed out their homework and a few other students in the class gave a groan before the bell signaled that they could leave.

Cassie saddled up beside him and Billy prepared for the mouthful that she was going to start talking as they headed towards their next classes. Cassie had English and Billy had Chemistry, but they were close enough that Billy usually just walked her. To the brunette's surprise he heard his name called out. Billy turned and kept his face from showing any kind of surprise he felt. It was Teddy Altman. Of course it was.

"Um, yes?" Billy only wondered for a moment how the blonde knew his name but then remembered Hank McCoy calling him out in class.

"I just… I wanted to say thanks, for helping with the problem. It was a rookie mistake, so um, thanks." Billy nodded his head and gave a small upturn of his lips before Cassie was pulling him along again and then Teddy was out of sight and Cassie was grinning at him full force and Billy groaned.

"No, just, no Cassie," It was too late; she had already started off on the tangent.

"I mean, he's completely your type, except he’s not a jack ass. He seems really nice and he's super attractive. Don't tell Nate I said that, okay?"

'So they're on again.' Billy thought as they moved down the hall. Cassie kept giving reasons, mostly just how Billy needed to finally get a boyfriend and how Teddy would just be perfect even though neither of them knew much about him. Billy just sighed and deposited her at the door of her class before heading for his own a little ways down the hall.

Out of all his academic classes Billy only had one with Teddy, he was both relieved and disappointed in that outcome. Lunch rolled around at twelve thirty and Billy's stomach signaled that it was time to be fed.

After he had assembled his tray Billy found Kate and Eli easily. Tommy was probably held up in line and that thought made Billy laugh. Together they made the decision to sit in one of the common areas inside of the manor. Outside was nice and all, but Kate had insisted it was just too windy and her hair had taken far too long to let it get messed up by mother nature. Billy had rolled his eyes but smiled none the less.

When Tommy arrived with two plates in hand Billy held back a small giggle. It was cute, really it was, but Tommy was also his brother and it was Billy's job to mock his relationship when needed. Tommy shot him a glare and then gave a rather dopey smile to his girlfriend and pecked her lightly on the lips, it almost made Billy vomit. He'd much rather deal with Tommy's snark then his affection to others.

"So what's the dish on the new mutants?" Eli was usually the first person to ask questions like these, where Cassie was more direct with the people Eli liked to gather information and then surprise others by already knowing.

"Well, the kid with the cap yesterday makes everyone call him Loki – fanboy if you ask me. He has low ice abilities and is electrokinetic like Billy. I don't think he can create it though. He hasn't been in combat yet so we don't have full specs. The little girl is Maddy. She can make people fall asleep, but she doesn't really control the dreams, just knocks them out without brain damage." Kate knew about the younger kids because she generally worked with them more. Eli nodded and Tommy spoke next.

"The guy with the hands lined in metal is Clarence. We're thinking of calling him Minos though because his mutation is that anything he touches can turn to metal, thankfully he can pick and choose and it's not permanent." Billy gave a small shudder and bit into his apple as he listened. The thought of being turned into metal was kind of terrifying, but he was glad Clarence could at least choose what to change, some mutants weren't as lucky.

Cassie appeared from behind them, but had clearly caught the tail end of Tommy explaining about Minos and pipped in with her own tidbit.

"The red girl, her name's Patricia and she can manipulate thermal energy. She can make things cold by absorbing their heat. She's super nice and wants to be a doctor." Everyone nodded and it only left one mutant left to talk about. Billy cleared his throat and started to speak.

"The blonde boy is Teddy, he has increased strength, rapid healing and can shapeshift. He's actually green." Billy didn't need to say anymore. Cassie gave him a look and continued for him.

"What Billy didn't mention is that he's really good at math and is actually super nice even though he looks like one of the football players you'd think would be a total jerk." Cassie was smiling and Billy just continued to eat his apple as the forty minute lunch break crawled to an end.

Tommy and Kate were making stupid eyes at each other and Eli and America were talking about early morning combat practice. Kate was in the long range class that Mr. LeBeau taught, as well as Nate because he specialized in projectile weapons. It was for people who didn't always fight close combat nor had mutations that protected at close range. The only ones that had afternoon combat where Billy, Tommy and Cassie.

When the bell rang out across the court yard and inside the common room, Billy and Cassie stood up to throw away their trash and head off to combat. Nate stopped Cassie short and gave her a quick kiss on the lips and long hug. The blonde flushed and gave the genius a large grin.

'Yup. Definitely on again.'

Tommy did the same for Kate and Billy pretended to gag. Tommy was at his side in the blink of an eye and mussing up his hair. Billy shot him a look of loathing as he tried to tame his ruffled hair.

Once he was done the three mutants headed to the bunkers below the mansion where Mr. Logan would be waiting with a group of ten or so mutants so they could practice “not dying.” His words, not Billy's. The Wolverine also taught history, but Billy took that with Mr. Summers.

Together the three piled into one of the elevators and descended into those lower levels, and then walked the rest of the way to the bunker. A few others passed them as they went. When they got to the last door in the hall there was a small cluster of mutants already gathered. Billy nodded to a few of them and noticed that Teddy was among the group. The blonde sent Billy a small smile and went back to chatting with Colossus, the class TA and referee.

Mr. Logan walked down the corridor with a gruff and unlocked the side room where they kept the uniforms that Dr. McCoy had designed for combat practices that were meant to adapt and defend against a variety of powers.

The gruff man unlocked another room and people took turns changing into their uniforms and walking into the bunker. The professor had mentioned something about finally installing actual changing rooms but it had yet to happen.

Billy and Teddy were the last two to suit up. Teddy because he needed Logan to calculate his height and weight to decide which suit would be best and Billy because he didn't like having to shove past everyone to grab one of the smaller suits there were usually in the back. It was generally a hassle and the one time he’d tried to go first once, it hadn't ended very well.

After Cassie had changed and came out of the small room she let herself grow until she was eight feet tall, still a good four feet from the ceiling of the bunker. Teddy balked, startled by the change but smiled as Cassie wiggled her fingers and headed into the closed off part of the bunker with the rest. Teddy looked at Billy and gave another one of his smiles, just a simple up turn of the lips that betrayed a dash of nerves that Billy found himself reflecting, it had nothing to do with the combat like Billy was sure Teddy's had to do with.

"You can go ahead," Teddy gestured to the makeshift changing room and Billy started to shake his head but Teddy raised a brow and put a hand on his hip. Billy knew in that moment that refusal was futile. Billy nodded and smiled in return and walked into the room to change.

He was quick about it, easily shucking his clothes off and pulling on the elastic suit. He'd been changing into one of them for almost two years so it felt almost like a second skin. It made his skinny body look even more so considering it was a simple black with the silver 'X' on the hip. Billy balled up his clothes and stuffed them into his bag and exited the room.

He caught Teddy's gaze and nodded lightly before heading into the bunker, he hadn't caught the blue eyed stare that followed him.  
Once Teddy entered the room Mr. Logan began to speak. Billy did his best to pay attention but he kept finding his eyes traveling to where Teddy was standing, hands tucked behind his back. The suit hugged his form nicely. It showed the defined muscle that Billy had seen through a sleepy haze. This was going to be so much harder than he had originally thought. Cassie caught his eye for a moment and she simply smirked before nodding her head in the direction of their teacher. Billy made it his personal goal to not look at Teddy again until Mr. Logan was done talking. So much harder than he had thought.

"Today class, we are going to play one on one tag. You need to touch your sparring partner four times to win, we rotate, winner stays in the fight until he or she is out. This is a no power contact game. Any use of powers will not count as a point." Mr. Logan shot a look to Tommy who just returned the gaze with a wicked smile.

Billy rolled his eyes at his brother and waited for the first match to be called.

"I want Lang and Colossus." Billy tilted his head in confusion but it was Cassie who spoke first.

"But sir, Colossus is just a TA," Mr. Logan gave her a look and sighed.

"In the real fight it won't matter if he's older, stronger or a friend, it matters who gets who first." Cassie nodded, her face still holding an air of confusion before stepping into the circle. Their teacher coughed and Cassie made a confirming noise before regressing to her natural five foot four.

It hadn't seemed like it would be a good match to start with considering how small the blonde girl was compared to Colossus. Billy watched with surprise though as Cassie managed to get two of the four points.

"Can anyone tell me why Cassie didn't get all four points?" Mr. Logan did this sometimes, asked for the reasons. Usually he just grunted and shouted things.

"She wasn't sure she could take him. She hesitated," This was Teddy who spoke and Billy felt himself nodding along because he was right. Because Colossus was bigger, Cassie wasn't sure she'd be able to do anything at all. However, as they progressed, she had grown more determined and realized that while she was smaller she was also faster and that had made it easy for her to slip in jabs and kicks that the bigger man might not have been able to block.

The sparing continued.

Colossus was beaten a few rounds later by Tommy who, while he didn't technically use his power, was much faster than him and could avoid and block the punches and kicks more easily.

Tommy was down after three because Billy knew how he fought. He knew when to feign and when to dodge. Tommy knew these things as well but Billy had been lucky and they'd ended four to three. It was back and forth with them when they sparred. A few rounds later and Billy was surprised he was still doing as well as he was. That was until it was Teddy's turn in the ring. Billy swore that his red cheeks were from having fought hard the last three battles. Not from the idea of being in such close proximity to Teddy again.

Billy felt his whole body go tense. He wondered if this was how Cassie had felt, going up against someone who was so much bigger than her. Billy heard Mr. Logan blow his whistle and he felt the small spark of pressure building up in his fist but willed it away. This was a no power fight and he couldn't let himself get out of control so easily. The professor would be pleased. Teddy got the first point because Billy had been distracted. The blonde had simply reached out quickly and flicked the brunette on the shoulder.

It would have been amusing if Teddy hadn't been wearing a slightly smug expression on his face. It just made Billy scowl at the blonde.

"One to zero, get your head in it Kaplan or I'll have you doing pushups until your arms fall off." Alone it sounded ridiculous but coming from The Wolverine Billy nodded stiffly and turned to face Teddy once more. The whistle blew and Billy waited for Teddy to move first.  
Teddy stepped forward, he was testing the waters, but Billy was focused now and Teddy knew that. 'Good, he's not an overconfident,' Billy thought that was another something wasn't fair about the blonde.

Teddy let a playful smirk on to his face as Billy mirrored his move and stepped his foot forward as well. Billy matched his expression easily and then Teddy was striking out with his hand and Billy swooped under it, he grabbed the extended arm with his hand and used it as a way to pivot his body so he could land a kick to Teddy's side. The point was his.

"One to one."

Billy smiled and stepped back from Teddy, sliding back into his stance, legs and shoulders square, left palm open and out, right in a fist and held closer to his chest. He waited for Teddy to do the same and the moment that the whistle shrilled in the air Billy struck fast and Teddy was only thrown for a moment before he was sidestepping the brunette and bringing his leg out to catch Billy. Instead of taking the blow Billy arched forward and rolled, turning back around and facing the blonde in the parallel of where they had started.

This cat and mouse of hit and leaps and doges lasted up until it was three to three and both Billy and Teddy where panting. "This is the last point of the lesson, and then I want you all to change and hit the showers." Mr. Logan watched as Billy and Teddy moved back to their spots. They had been learning each other’s moves, the way that their bodies hinted at the next attack, the next fake out. Billy knew he would have enough shower materiel to run himself dry for weeks.

He didn't need to be thinking about that though because Teddy was advancing slowly, cautiously. This was the last point. The winner. Billy stepped out as well and watched the subtle changes in the blonde’s shoulders the way he moved left and then jabbed with the right, Billy was ducking and rolling. This time though he turned around and Teddy was suddenly in his space and kicking Billy's legs from under him and while Billy was on his back Teddy loomed over him and bent down, first bumping lightly against his chest. Billy grinned wildly and Teddy's expression matched his.

"Match point. Teddy Altman 4, Billy Kaplan 3." Billy nodded at the blonde above him in congratulations. Teddy smiled and extended an arm to Billy. The brunette accepted the help and found he hadn't needed to put any effort into the lift because Teddy did it so easily.

"Class is dismissed. Hit the showers." The class gave a few cheers and whoops as they once again took turns in changing back into regular clothes. Billy bounced from foot to foot as the group of students changed. He stole a few glances at Teddy as he left the changing room. His hair was sweaty and clung together and shagged in front his eyes. It was all completely unfair. Teddy Altman was unfair.

By the time that Billy was done and his uniform was in the basket to be washed the only people that were left were Cassie and Teddy. Billy was sure that Tommy had sped off to meet Kate as her class ended. The two seemed to be having a conversation and then Teddy laughed. It was like a low rumble and Billy wondered how it would feel if he was laying his head against Teddy's chest when he laughed. Cassie shot him a smile as he exited the changing room.

"Billy, you're so slow. I want to show Teddy all the cool places around the mansion and I know you'll just go hibernate in your room for the rest of the evening till dinner so you're coming with us." Billy raised his hands and started to shake his head and explain that no, he would not in fact be going with them. But he knew that Cassie was persistent and he actually did want to spend more time in the blonde boy’s presence.

Billy sighed and put his hands down. Cassie gave a happy noise and grabbed on to the brunette’s arm and pulled him along. Teddy followed on the other side of Cassie and shot Billy an apologetic look. The brown eyed mutant just smiled and rolled his eyes. One of their group would have dragged him from his room whether he wanted it or not.

Together he and Cassie showed the blonde where the rose garden was. It was a nice place to relax and a few of the mutants who controlled nature based gifts were tending to the flowers.

One of the little girls touched a pink rose bud and it bloomed under her small hands. Teddy leaned down next to her and smiled brightly. They talked in hushed voices and the little girl, Billy was sure that her name was Venice, colored a small amount and let a bright smile cover her face. She plucked the rose from its bush and motioned for Teddy to stand back. Sucking in a large breath she blew against the rose and the three watched as little yellow dots of pollen flew from her mouth and landed on the rose.

They sank and disappeared under the petals surface. "So it will live longer," her voice was sweet as she handed the rose to Teddy, he smiled so kindly to the child that Billy added another thing on the every growing list of reasons why Teddy Altman was completely unfair.

They moved on from the gardens and Teddy gently wrapped the rose in his over shirt and placed it in his bag. Now he was only in a black wife beater and the way his arms were toned made Billy feel completely and totally inadequate to be standing next to him. But he was so gentle with the flower that a warm feeling bloomed in his chest as he watched Teddy zip up and bag and slowly shoulder it once more so as not to jostle it too much.

Next Billy chose the place and led the two mutants to one of his favorite places – the library on the second floor. It was smaller than the first floor one and filled with older works that he hadn't touched. Billy did his best thinking among the smell of old leather and the rustling of papers. Cassie shook her head lightly but Teddy gave him a toothy grin and ran his fingers along the edges of the books fondly before they were moving to another location. Billy was probably going to have to write the list down somewhere.

Their third location, and agreed to be the last, was the large oak by the lake that their group hung around when they wanted to share stories or someone needed to be comforted by the mossy lake and the gentle blow of the wind through the trees.

"It's beautiful," Teddy's voice was soft and Billy felt the insane urge to grab his hand and see what he was seeing when he looked out at the ocean but he didn't because he already could, they all did. Still, Billy thought that the south side of the roof had the best view. No one but Tommy knew about that though. Billy and Teddy walked Cassie back to her room which she shared with America and the blonde girl only let them leave when she had made sure that Teddy promised he would eat dinner with their group. Billy rolled his eyes. Sometimes Cassie could be a little much, but it was part of her charm.

Teddy and Billy walked back to their wing of the mansion in companionable silence. Sometimes Teddy would point to someone and ask Billy if he knew their mutation. For the most part he was able to answer. He had lived nine years in the school. It wouldn't be a surprise.

The two made it to the wing in less than ten minutes and considering the amount of mutants that roamed the halls after classes it was a miracle. A few of the newer mutants were loitering around the wing including Clarence and Patricia. They talked easily amongst themselves and smiled when Teddy appeared. Billy figured that they must have gotten to know each other while on the way and it was irrational to feel the small pang of distance when Teddy broke away from his side to go see them.

Billy reached his door a little ways down the hall and heard the sound of footsteps jogging up to his side. It was Teddy. Billy gave him a small look. "Thought you were talking with your friends?" There was no anger in his tone or disappointment, just curiosity as to why Teddy would break away from the others to come back to his side. Teddy gave him a confused look and then smiled and shook his head.

"We aren't really friends, they just wanted me to know that they were good. When Storm got to each of us it was kinda hard to leave home so they just wanted to see how I was liking it." Billy nodded, he remembered being eight and gripping Tommy's hand really hard and crying as their parents’ car pulled out of the schools massive drive way. He had let out an electric current so strong it fried some of the light bulbs. Not one of his prouder moments.

"And how do you like it so far?" Teddy gave him another award winning smile.

"It's amazing." The words made a flutter rush through Billy's stomach but he ignored it and smiled at Teddy in return.

"That's good. Sometimes the people aren't always nice but it's good that you've gotten adjusted." Teddy nodded, a look on his face that Billy couldn't read properly. Billy turned back to his door and turned the knob when Teddy made a noise that startled the brunette.

"Sorry, I completely forgot..." The blonde’s sentence trailed as he unzipped his bag and pulled out the crumbled shirt that held the pink rose. Teddy gently unfolded the shirt and made a humming noise of triumph when he produced the rose in its still perfect condition. He held it in his palm and extended it towards Billy. The brunette blinked at it.

"Uh..." Billy flushed at the little flower; he wasn't sure what he was meant to do at first. Teddy rolled his eyes and gave a small quirk of his lips. The blonde reached out and took Billy's arm by the wrist and placed the flower in his palm, before Teddy let go of Billy's wrist he felt the blue eyed boy brush his thumb against Billy’s pulse. Billy hadn't even realized there'd been a lump in his throat until he was trying to swallow past it.

"It would probably die in a few days if I looked after it so I think you'd better take it." Billy watched as a pink tint worked its way to Teddy's silver lined ears as the blonde ran a hand through his hair, scratching lightly at the back of his head. Billy smiled gently down at the flower.

"Thanks, I'll make sure it won't die." Teddy nodded and smiled before awkwardly taking his leave by mentioning he would be showering before dinner and would knock on Billy's door around six if that was alright. Billy agreed and finally made his way into his room. With the door closed firmly behind him, Billy examined the flower and held it toward his face to smell it. It held the scent that only roses had – sweet and like the earth, and under all that was the smell of the soap that Teddy must have used. Billy smiled and placed it on his bedside table.

While he was over by the table Billy let his eyes wander to the alarm clock. It was only four. He had a few hours to get the majority of his school work done. The brown eyed mutant popped his knuckles and sat down at his desk. He pulled his bag over and opened the main compartment to grab his separate folders and set to work.

Two hours moved by faster than Billy had really thought it might have. He'd finished his work in the first slot of time and had dedicated the rest of it the reading some more of the book he had borrowed from the library. It was just getting to a really intense part of the novel   
when there was a succession of three knocks on his door.

Billy may or may not have checked his hair in the mirror before opening his door to a fresh smelling and, thankfully, shirted Teddy in his doorway. Billy smiled and noted the way that Teddy's entire body seemed to take up the whole of the door frame. He was clad in a deep green over shirt that clung to his arms and a pair of jean that hugged him in a way that shouldn't have gotten Billy's attention as much as it did.

"Ready to go?" Billy nodded, dragging his eyes away from the blonde. He flipped his light switch off as they headed towards the kitchen to get their food. On their way, Cassie met up with them and it didn't surprise Billy that she had Kate, Tommy and Eli in tow. Nate and America had rooms on the other side of the school so they would meet them in the lines or by the tree where they usually ate dinner.

Billy watched as Teddy interacted with his friends and smiled at the way he just seemed to fit in alongside them, chatting away with them as though he had been there the whole time and not just since the morning. It filled Billy with that warm feeling he had no real name for. It was like comfort, like being okay. Like home.

It almost made him stop in his tracks, but he kept going, letting the words tumble around in his head as he walked alongside his brother.

They reached the kitchen a little slower than Nate and American had. By the time they reached the spot in the front lawn where they usually ate, the two had already finished off half of their meals. Tommy sat down and Kate fell back against his chest, settling comfortably between the silver haired boy legs. It made it harder for Tommy to eat but he never complained. Nate, who was leaning against one of the trees they were near, moved his arm for Cassie so that she could easily fit. Eli, America, Teddy and Billy filled up the rest of the space to complete the circle of people.

Billy spent the first few minutes pushing his food around before actually taking a bite of anything. Everyone was having little conversations here and there while Billy laid on his stomach, ankles locked in the air and fork in his mouth. He didn't notice the way that blue eyes traced over his body only to snap back to the group.

"So is every day like this?" Billy quirked a brow up. Teddy's question had been pretty vague, but Kate spoke up easily.

"In terms of classes? Yes. Saturday is when we do student run "power offs," it’s just showing off tricks and stuff, nothing like combat classes. Sunday is usually a quiet day so we go swimming or hike around the forest. Sometimes we get lots of homework on Friday so it's a cram day. Sundays are general up in the air. That's pretty much as difficult as it gets around here." Kate explained it better than Billy ever thought he could.

Teddy nodded and smiled. "Are we ever allowed off campus?" It was a valid question and Billy spoke from his place on the ground, head turned in the direction of the blonde, hands tucked under his chin to support his head as he talked.

"We go for field trips and you can go home if your parents want you there during week breaks," he didn't let the bitterness he felt change his tone, "there isn't really a "summer break" here, we have weeklong breaks every three months. Of course, we have holidays too. Sometimes if you beg or do especially good on something Professor X will let you go into town on an errand or something. We aren't trapped here but sometimes getting away can be hard." In all honesty Billy wasn't sure he wanted to be in the outside world anyway. Not everyone else was like that though.

Teddy seemed to absorb the information that fell from Billy's lips as he continued.

"If you're going to ask about curfew and stuff, we aren't allowed out of the manor past eleven, but some of the mutants have trouble sleeping so it's okay to roam the halls at night just as long as you're quiet and not up to anything devious." Billy shot a look to Tommy who just smirked, eyes filled with mischief.

"As far as meal times go it's pretty straight forward, breakfast is from seven to when the first bell rings at eight thirty and dinner is from six to whenever you're done." Billy was sure that he had covered everything he could think of.  
Teddy just seemed to be filled with more questions.

"What about rooms?"

Cassie shot up from Nate's shoulder surprising the genius but only for a moment.

"Well, we aren't allowed in the opposite genders room past eight, if we all wanna watch a movie together we have to go to one of the common areas and other than that it doesn't matter. Sometimes the girls have sleepovers in one room and sometimes they guys just hang out until the early hours. But if you were to sneak into a ladies room at night, just make sure you're not caught." Nate flushed, he and Cassie had been busted once and it had caused a fight but in the end they'd patched it up. Teddy nodded, Billy watched the tips of his ears turn pink and his hand reached to twist a silver stud in his ear.

"I, uh, I don't think that's going to be much of a problem." Billy's eyes snapped up to the blonde as the group grew silent. America was the first to speak up.

"It doesn't really matter in this group. It’s not like you're the only one, not between me and Billy that is."  
Billy didn't protest or look abashed to have America out him in front of Teddy. He'd learned not to be ashamed of people finding out. The school knew anyway, everyone did. Teddy met his eyes and Billy smiled softly, he shrugged his shoulders and munched on the apple he's saved for last.

Another thirty or so minutes passed and Cassie was nodding off in Nate's arms. He made the comment of bringing her back to her and America's room so that she could sleep. The remaining members of the group wished them both good night and stood as well. Tommy said that he and Kate were going on a walk, Eli explained he needed to do the homework he hadn't done and America wanted to lift weights in the gym before hitting the sack.

That left Teddy and Billy standing there.

"I was, uh, I'm gonna head back to my room and read so… good night, I guess?" Billy turned to Teddy and could see the tired air that surrounded him.

"I'll walk with you. I'm probably going to go to bed early, it's been a hell of a few days." Billy could only imagine.  
They walked back together and chatted idly over Dr. McCoy's homework and if Teddy had any trouble with it.

"Honestly it isn't really hard. I learned this stuff already but the amount of course work that I have to catch up on might end up killing me." Teddy chuckled a little at his own statement and Billy shot him an amused looked as they both continued down the halls of the mansion.

"He doesn't give that much homework but his grading, man, a whole new look on why they call him "Beast." Teddy laughed loudly and Billy chuckled along with him.

Before the two had realized they were back at Billy's door, Teddy looked slightly haggard from the past two days and Billy could sympathize.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in the morning?" Billy nodded and Teddy stood there for a moment, he brushed his hand through his hair and Billy noticed that he seemed to do that a lot. It was kind of endearing. One more for the list.

"Night," Teddy smiled down at the brunette and smirked lightly as he backed away from Billy's room.

"Ditto."

Only when Billy was in his room did he let his face break out in a flush and a smile grace his lips. Yeah, he had it bad.  
Before Billy had even realized it a week had passed with Teddy in the mansion, his list on unfair things had grown and it felt as though Teddy had always been a part of him and his friends’ lives. It was nice. If not completely frustrating at the same time.

He seemed to always be there, in the halls when Billy was passing, beside him during every breakfast and dinner. They had spent afternoons in Billy's room pouring over homework that Teddy needed help with. Teddy was filling up every empty spaces that Billy hadn't realized were there. He was dreaming of blue eyes and a warm smile and light touches when a sound started to tickle against his ear and bring him into the day.

Billy heard the shrill ring of his alarm clock and groaned, hair stuck up in every direction. He pressed a hand against the top of the alarm button and his room was suddenly silent once again. He sighed, falling back against his bed and turning his head to look at the time. His eyes caught the pink rose that had only just started to wilt. It made Billy's lips curve into a smile. It had already lost the scent of Teddy's soap but Billy could still remember it. The blonde had spent so many hours leaned against his bed with textbooks scattered around that the scent had lingered in the room.

Billy groaned again. He really needed to get a grip. The brunette rose from his comfortable sheets and shuffled around his room, grabbing his towel and a change of clothes and toiletries. It was his usual morning routine. He slipped from his room and walked quickly to the end of the hall where the showers were.

After the first morning where he had bumped into Teddy, half naked and still damp, Billy made sure that he was up a little bit earlier to beat the blonde to the shower. He did not want another run-in like that. Billy wasn't sure that his libido could take the hit.  
The brunette showered quickly, letting the warm water and wonderful pressure wake his sleeping body and clear his muddled head. He was in and out in under twenty minutes. For the day he had chosen a simple gray shirt and blue jeans, Billy had decided to forgo his usual red hoodie, simply because it was getting hotter as the summer days grew closer.

Billy made it back to his room right as he heard Teddy's door opening. It was silly, Billy knew that, avoiding Teddy in the morning, but it was what he knew he could do and he also didn't want it to get awkward for them. They had breached that territory for a lingering moment a few days before while Teddy had dropped Billy off, fingertips ghosted across his forehead, pushing mussed hair. The brunette couldn't look Teddy in the eye for a day. Billy was lucky that he had made it a week before scaring the blonde off with ill-placed comments and possible inappropriate staring.

Walking over to his desk, Billy put his finished homework into his bag and slipped on his shoes. He nodded at his appearance in the mirror and headed towards his door when he heard the telltale knock. Billy held the grin from his face as he opened the door. Teddy stood there, taking up the whole frame like always and Billy let the smile slip onto his face, it was small, but he figured grinning as widely as he wanted to would be off-putting.

"Morning,"

"Oh really, hadn't noticed." Teddy rolled his eyes and chuckled softly as they headed towards the kitchen. Cassie met up with them as they rounded the hall explaining that Eli, Kate, and Tommy had gone on ahead. Billy wasn't surprised. Cassie was usually the only one who waited for them.

"Sleep well?" Cassie always asked this in the morning Billy would nod in her direction and Teddy would say yes and ask her in return. This time though, Teddy yawned and mumbled a half committed yes. Billy snapped his eyes in the direction of the blonde and pressed down the feeling of worry that wormed its way into his stomach. He had been noticing that the day before Teddy wasn't as awake as usual but had passed it off as perhaps a bad night of sleep. Billy didn't ask about it. It probably wasn't any of his business. That didn't stop him from worrying.

Cassie seemed oblivious to the way that Teddy was dragging his feet just a little more than normal. Billy was acutely aware of it.  
They met the rest of their friends after getting their helpings of toast and eggs. Billy grabbed his usual apple and took his seat next to Teddy; the blonde was pushing his eggs around his plate and nibbling the corner of his toast. Eli was the first that morning to speak.

"I think Mr. Logan's going to do a power class today." Billy froze, apple caught in his mouth and eyes wide.

"What's that?" Of course, Teddy wouldn't know. They hadn't had a power class in the entire week that the blue-eyed boy had joined their class. Cassie smiled and started talking away, everyone was content to let her.

"Well usually we practice close combat training with Mr. Logan and he thinks it's best to know how to fight without powers so that's usual for his class, however even he knows that mutants need to know how to fight using their mutation. Because lots of time we need help with control," no one looked at Billy and he was thankful. "So every other week we practice using our powers in combat to work on control and testing our limits. Sure we have the "power offs" but everyone knows it's not enough."

Teddy nodded along looking both worried as well as excited. Billy was slightly terrified. He'd never had the best control and he knew as well as everyone that he was dangerous, very dangerous. Eli and Tommy knew better than others because they'd had to deal with it firsthand. Billy really didn't want Teddy to see that part of him, the part where he couldn't control his very being.

Teddy hadn't asked what Billy's powers were and Billy was thankful because even the professor didn't have a specific name for his kind of mutation and Billy really didn't want to talk about it. They could name parts of it, electrokinesis, levitation, but beyond that, they had no specific reason for why him chanting could make things happen, why it was like his whole body glowed blue when he used his ability.

Even though Billy has much better control nowadays, his powers were directly tied to his emotions, sometimes they don't work and sometimes they worked too well. He was worried and Tommy gave him a look from across their circle of friends. Tommy always knew when Billy worried about his abilities. Billy figures it was a twin thing.

By the time they'd finished breakfast the first bell was ringing and Billy, Tommy, Cassie and Teddy were heading off together to their classes. Billy was silent as he walked, following behind Cassie and Teddy who were caught up in discussing homework questions that they'd had small amounts of trouble with. Tommy fell back to walk alongside his brother.

"There's no use in worrying about it you know, he was going to see them eventually." Tommy read Billy too easily and it caused the brunette to scowl deeply, nodding along in affirmation to what his brother had said. "It not like you're going to zap him or will him into doing something, you've got more control than that."

Billy wasn't so confident and he was pretty sure his face betrayed that as well. Tommy sighed deeply and punched him in the shoulder. Billy squeaked and clutched where his brother hit him, fingers rubbing against the abused flesh. Teddy and Cassie looked back, Teddy raised a brow and Billy simply flushed, glaring at the silver haired boy. Teddy gave Billy a small smile and turned back to Cassie as they climbed the stairs towards Dr. McCoy's class.

"I'm not worried about him being scared by them or anything, I just, you know I'm not always as controlled with them as I could be." Tommy nodded. Billy knew he understood how he felt. Tommy exploded their garden shed by accident. It was better than how Billy discovered his powers… that also hadn’t been a good way to break it to their parents.

"You'll do fine. If you get nervous you can always just picture him in his underwear, oh, wait, that might not help," Tommy smirked at the expression that covered Billy's face. When they reached their class Billy turned to Tommy in order to take revenge for his should but the boy was already dashing off to his own class. Teddy waited for Billy to catch up, throwing a questioning look to the brunette. Billy shrugged him off and mumbled something about his "stupid brother" as he took his seat.

Halfway through the class, Dr. McCoy was mid-lecture about antiderivatives and memorizing equations when Billy decided to spend the majority of his class time staring at the back of Teddy's head. The brunette was in the middle of memorizing the cuffs and how they stood out against Teddy's ear when the blonde's head started to slump forward slightly until he bolted back up. Billy could feel his eyes widen as he watched the same thing happen three more times. By the fourth time, Teddy's head didn’t shoot up again and Billy knew that the boy was sleeping. It took only five minutes before Dr. McCoy realized it as well.

"Mr. Altman," The sharp snap of the blue man's voice snapped the blonde of his weak slumber and Billy watched the top of his ears flush red. "If you find that you're having trouble staying awake in my class might I suggest getting more sleep?" The man's tone was soft like he understood the plight of restless teenagers and Billy watched as Teddy flushed darker, embarrassment making his shoulders tense.

"Sorry sir, it won't happen again." Dr. McCoy nods.

"See to it that it doesn't."

The class ended twenty minutes later and Billy watched as Teddy tipped his head back and let out a long yawn, hand covering his mouth as he did. Billy felt the knot of worry in his stomach again as he waited for Cassie to gather her things. Teddy turned to Billy and gave him a little smile before sliding out of the class. Billy returned it the best he could until the blonde was out of sight and the smile fell off his face.

"Wonder what's got him so tired." Cassie made the statement as they walked down the steps towards their classes. Billy shook his head. He couldn't fathom a guess.

"I don't know, maybe he's just not getting enough sleep. Remember how it was the first nights you were here?" Cassie nodded alongside him. They had both taken time in adjusting to their new home, most of the students did. It wasn't easy leaving home and it was even harder to be alone while getting used to a new place.

Billy had been lucky, he had been with Tommy. Then again, if he hadn't been with his brother he probably would have short-circuited the whole house, or lifted it off the ground. Something bad would have happened.

Billy dropped Cassie off at her class and continued to his own. The nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach didn't leave for the remainder of his academic classes, not even when he reached his small group of friends, apple in hand and sandwich disassembled on his plate.

Eli was talking about his combat class while Kate was comparing her target scores with Cassie and Nate. Teddy found them ten or so minutes later. He was smiling, and despite the dark splotches under his eyes that Billy had only just taken notice of, he looked much more awake than he had in the morning.

"The line was terrible. It sucks having a class on the second floor and completely on the other side of the mansion." Billy didn't comment that he could easily go to the kitchen closer to his class in order to get food, no one else did either. The blonde was part of their group; they weren't going to give him up to a shorter lunch line. That much was obvious.

As Teddy took his predetermined seat beside Billy, the brunette used his napkin to transfer the red peppers and pickles from his sandwich to Teddy's plate and Teddy, in turn, passed Billy his package of carrots.  
It had started the second day of lunch when Billy made the offhanded comment about hating the pickles that always seemed to appear around lunch time and Teddy had just plucked them from his plate without any hesitation. In retaliation, Billy had taken his carrots. Teddy had only smiled and commented how he didn’t even liked them in the first place. Billy pouted for a good five minutes. Teddy laughed.

Kate sniggered slightly at the exchange and Billy just sent her a look. He didn't need her teasing. Not when he was still worrying about so many different things.

"So what's it like? The power class? I mean you told me what is it but like, how does it work?" Billy turned to Teddy who was looking at him with his blue eyes and Billy cursed the universe for make them so bright.

"Well, it's kinda like the tag game except we all get paired off and we go one at a time. Usually Mr. Logan'll pair people who can easily oppose or counter the other mutant’s powers and vice versa. It makes it more challenging." Teddy nodded at the explanation.

"Sounds like fun." Billy shrugged, it was, but that didn't stop the nervous itch in his fingers, the pressure of his mutation building beneath his skin and into his nerves like it wanted to fight from his body. Billy calmed himself. He was in control. He needed to be in control.

"It usually is, one time though, Tommy was fighting Colossus and he was going so fast he didn't notice that Colossus was gonna close pin him, Tommy ended up with two broken ribs." Tommy shot Billy a look as sharp as daggers while Teddy laughed beside him. The worry that had edged its way under Billy's skin began to fade from his stomach.

Billy was biting into a carrot when Teddy got a pensive look on his face. It was a look that Billy had never seen the blonde wear before. As Billy stared, it melted into one of determination that reached all the way to Teddy’s eyes. He turned his gaze to Billy and the brunette was caught like a deer in sky blue headlights.

"What's your mutation, Billy?" The brunette felt a shiver of panic rise against his skin; he could almost feel the tendrils of blue light race under his veins. Billy took a breath; he needed to play this cool.

"You're, um, you're just going to have to wait and see." Billy grimaced at himself but Teddy gave an exaggerated pout, it made the brunette feel a bit better.

The bell rang a moment later and their group dispersed. Tommy walked beside Billy and nudged his shoulder with his own; Billy glared up at his silver haired twins giggle.

"Smooth Billy, really, like butter." Billy took the opportunity to slug him in the shoulder. It was only fair since he'd missed his chance for revenge that morning. Teddy walked on the other side of Billy and Cassie lead the group of four as they marched down toward the bunker area of the house. Neither of them looked back as Tommy squawked.

The news had seemed to spread about combat being a power class, at least among Mr. Logan's students. It was clear by the way that everyone had changed quickly and quietly. Billy could understand their excitement, it wasn't forbidden to use powers, except in class, but they never got the chance to really stretch their potential, not unless they were in combat. Even Billy felt the small thrill of excitement along with the nerves that made his fingers twitchy.

Suited up, he and Teddy stood side by side in the bunker as their teacher explained the lesson.

"I'm sure that you are all aware that today is a power based combat class." Cheers and whoops went into the air, The Wolverine growled until his class was silent. "That being said I will explain the rules to those of you who don't know. There is no point system, you fight until you can't, simple as that, you can call uncle anytime you like. You aren't required to go longer than you feel comfortable doing, so do not over exert yourself trying to win and no using deadly force. That's it. I'll pair you up as I see fit." The students nodded and some made little cheers again as their teacher looked them over.

Billy turned his head to watched as Teddy took his bottom lip in between his teeth, excitement and nerves played across his features and other things that Billy wasn't entirely sure how to name. He promptly did not think of what it would be like to take Teddy's mouth with his own, not at all, not even in the slightest.

"First match will be Mrs. Lang and Mr. Kaplan," Billy scrunched his eyes in confusion, that didn't seem like a fair fight, "Tommy Kaplan," that made more sense.

It wouldn't have made sense to pair up Billy and Cassie because she had a completely physical ability where Billy's did not, they wouldn't have balance out evenly. If they had fought it would be completely physical versus metaphysical, and in those cases metaphysical almost always won out. Cassie and Tommy though, that would probably be better.

The two moved to the circle on the mat and sized each other. Throughout their years together they'd mocked fought, they'd learned each other’s moves, but it was a two way street in that matter. The end would only be determined by who held out the longest.

"I'm wagering that Cassie will win." Billy looked to the blonde by his side and smirked lightly.

"My money's on Tommy, and not just because he's my brother." Teddy laughed and the coil of tension that had been building in Billy started to fade just by hearing the sound.

The match lasted roughly ten minutes before Cassie conceded. Tommy was panting, the smile on his face eased Billy's worry of his brother spending too much of his energy. It had been a good match, at one point when Billy was sure that Cassie would win, Tommy had turned it around and started to vibrate his own body, the friction was too much for the hand Cassie had wrapped around his brother and she'd dropped him. In the end, Cassie had shrunk and grown so many times that she was too exhausted to go on. Billy sympathized.

The next few matches went by in the same manner, mutants dropping left and right but happy all the same that they could finally burn up the energy inside of themselves. Teddy's match was probably Billy's favorite; his eyes never left the blonde as he moved.

Teddy had been put against a boy named Robert who had the same super strength that Teddy had but also had the added bonus of quicker reflexes as well as claws. It was only five minutes in when Teddy was pinned by the guy on the floor that he shifted from his human appearance into the green one that Billy had been mesmerized by on the first day. It was still mesmerizing and now Teddy had claws as well. The playing field was even.

Billy was completely captivated by blonde hair, green skin and scaly complexion. He was amazed continuously as Teddy moved effortlessly in his larger form.

It only lasted a few more minutes before Teddy ended up winning. He'd used his larger body to push himself free and had in turn pinned Robert by the throat. The boy beneath Teddy's grip conceded defeat. They both ended up with scratches and bruises. Teddy's were already healing and Billy remembered something about him having a healing factor. Relief flooded his body knowing that Teddy's trivial battle wounds would be gone within the hour.

Teddy slinked back over to Billy's side and returned to his more human appearance, creamy skin but still those blue eyes. Billy was sure it was unfair for Teddy to look so attractive no matter what form he took.

"Kaplan and Colossus." Billy wasn't at all surprised.

Most of the mutants in their class too inexperienced to deal with the damages that Billy could cause and Colossus was an assistant, too old and too experienced to be a student. Billy had control problems and his abilities were stronger than most for his age. It made sense. That didn't calm the small shocks of nervousness that rushed against his skin and tingled with the blue sparks he felt against his veins when the thought of finally let his power free.

Billy nodded and Teddy gave him a slightly dubious look. Billy shot him a smile to reassure him and stepped into the circle. He could feel the other man sizing him up, he knew what Billy could do… a lot of people did.

Colossus transformed. Once human colored skin changing, melting into chrome tinted metal. Billy's lightning wouldn't do much against that. Maybe stun him, but stop him? Not so much. He was going to have to figure out some sort of action before the man before him beat Billy into submission. Billy wouldn't submit easily.

Colossus took a single step forward and Billy breathed gently through his nose. He could feel his powers rise to the challenge and he hoped that they'd work with him. Billy inhaled and then exhaled once more before he let his powers snap against his very being.

The smell of ozone filled the room as blue sparks danced from beneath his skin, across his suit and around his eyes. The brunette willed himself up and felt his feet lift from the ground, his powers, his mutation, his magic responding before the thought was fully corporeal.  
It had been too long, the power had been pent up too long and it was causing Billy to choke on the energy as it fought to be free, to be   
used. Billy breathed in and out through his nose. Colossus waited – if he hadn't, Billy wasn't sure what would have happened.

After a moment in the air, Billy had collected his thoughts and had reigned in the energy as best as he could. The world seemed sharper as he let the sparks across his skin settle into his hands. They were bright blue with electricity and something so uniquely him that there was no name for it, no energy that could be clarified. It was like holding possibility and the universe in his palm and he shook at the thought of what he could do with it. All the raw power at the tips of his fingers.

Billy exhaled and nodded to Colossus. He was good, he could do this, he wouldn't hurt anyone. A mantra Billy repeated in his head to calm the storm that raged beneath his skin.

Colossus thrust himself forward and Billy felt the push and pull of his energy as he shot blue light from his fingertips, it hit the man and sent him reeling back a few steps. Billy lifted himself in the air a bit higher, Colossus recovered quickly, quicker than Billy had expected, and grabbed Billy's leg before he could counter. He was yanked down, Billy twisted at the last moment, kicking his leg free and kicked off of the older man's chest. Somersaulting in the air, Billy landed gently on his feet. Flying wasn't going to win him this fight and it would take up too much energy to hold himself for so long.

Colossus was on him again, adapting to the situation, he needed to be fast and strong, things that Billy physically weren't. The metal man swung out and Billy managed to avoid taking the full force of the blow as his shoulder was clipped and he was sent falling over backward. Billy thrusted his hands out in front of him, pushing out with his powers a wall of invisible energy struck out and held the other man from advancing while Billy recovered from the blow.

Colossus was trapped for the moment. Billy took the needed time to assess his situation and try to develop a plan for winning the fight. 

He thought of increasing the voltage of his lightning, but Mr. Logan had said nothing lethal and Billy was unsure just how much the other mutant could take. It wouldn't be worth it to find out. Hurting someone, to any extent, wasn't worth the win, not to Billy.

Billy felt his concentration slip momentarily. That combined with Colossus' brute force and the shield Billy had constructed dissipated between them. Billy squared his shoulders. It was time to go on the offense.

Billy waited for the man to get close and focused his energy into his hands, letting the sparks that danced across the suit’s second skin ball into singular points across his palms. Colossus struck out and Billy ducked in the nick of time. He threw a fist out and caught the man in his upper jaw.

Billy watched as sparks of electricity ran across the mutant’s body, making him shudder and stagger back. While the amount of charge in his electricity hadn't changed he'd managed to concentrate it into one area. He could use that to his advantage.

Colossus recovered and Billy expected another fist, his first mistake. The man faked a right hook and as the brunette ducked back to avoid it Colossus swung a leg out, sending Billy to the ground in a pain riddled heap.  
Billy rolled twice before stopping and clutching his stomach. It had really hurt. Colossus advanced forward and for the first time since the battle had begun Billy shot his eyes toward Teddy. The blonde’s expression was completely and totally unreadable.

As the chrome colored man advanced closer Billy started to feel the telltale signs of exhaustion, he was reaching his limit. Billy either needed to end the fight in one nondestructive move or concede and Billy really didn't want to concede. It wasn't in him.

The brunette lifted himself up to his knees and started to chant under his breath. It had started out as "IwanthimtostopIwanthimtostop...." but simply digressed into a repetitive line of "stopstopstopstopstop..." Billy could feel the moment that the chant worked.

It was like the world exploded into blue as the color bled into Billy's eyes, swallowing up the brown they usually were. The color rose to settle on top of Billy's skin, dancing across his suit and flashing as it enveloped his body. It was a moment of pure beauty and terror as the power focused down into the center of his being and pulsed out.

In a flash, the bunker was filled with light and only a moment later it was gone. Billy was looking around the room, fear and confusing seeping into his entire being. He had managed to stop Colossus just fine, Billy had frozen him completely in place, and had also stopped the whole of the room as well. Everyone was just as frozen as his sparring partner. A horrific thought crossed the brunette's mind at that moment.

'Are they dead?'

Colossus blinked and Billy exhaled a sigh. His eyes traveled to his hands where they pulsed light blue, energy flaring under the skin. Distantly he realized he was shaking, body trembling under the strain of what he'd just done. The world started to edge with black and Billy understood with exhausted relief that he was going to pass out. A moment later the world shut down around him.

Billy came back to the world slowly. He could feel something soft under his body and felt his face contort in confusion, the last place he'd been was kneeling on the sparring mat in the bunker and that was not soft in the slightest. Next the young mutant registered sound, a steady beeping noise he knew was a heart monitor and the sound of clicking heels that gradually grew louder as they approached. When Billy tried to open his eyes the world was white and blinding. Billy wanted to cling to the darkness of before but knew he needed to see where he was and who was holding his hand.

He blinked quickly to make his eyes adjust faster and realized that the clicking sound had been Jean Gray's heels against the ground, it made sense. Billy turned his eyes to the left and wasn't surprised to see a shock of silver hair and his brothers disapproving scowl, the grip holding his hand tightened. Billy tried to give a reassuring smile but a dull ache was floating into his head and he was sure that the smile was something much closer to a grimace.

"How's your head feeling Billy?" Mrs. Gray's voice was calm and Billy was thankful that it didn't making the pressure in his ears any worse.

"I-" Billy's throat was almost completely dry and he didn't like the feel of his own voice was making it worse. He swallowed dry and tried again.

"It could be better." His voice was rough and the redhead in front of him smiled her sympathy, passing him lukewarm water to take sips of. Billy wanted to guzzle it down until there was nothing left but he knew that would be the exact thing not to do. He took a small amount and let the water quench his throat slowly.

After his cup was empty and Tommy had released his hand to cross his arms in front of his chest Billy sat up, turning back to the woman who was looking over what Billy assumed was his chart.

"What, um, what happened exactly?" Tommy shot up in his seat and his scowl deepened as he faced his brother.

"What happened? I'll tell you what happened you idiot!" Mrs. Gray cut him off with a hand and a well-placed sharp look. Tommy fell back against his seat, shooting a glare at the brunette that lay in bed.

"What happened, Billy, was that you overexerted yourself to the point where you blacked out. Your body shut down because of how much energy you expelled. Now I need to understand a little more about what happened. Do you remember?" Billy nodded.

"I, uh, Colossus knocked me around a few times and I realized that using just my lightning wasn't going to be enough to stop him, not without using a higher charge, I didn't want to hurt him though so I tried chanting. I just said stop over and over again until it worked, except I only wanted to freeze him, not the whole room." Jean gave him a worried expression and Billy balked slightly. "It was just the room right?" Billy's eyes shoot to Tommy, no one was saying anything. It was unnerving.

"Billy," Mrs. Gray reached out a hand and placed it on the brunette's shoulder, "you froze half of the school."  
There was a moment for Billy to process the information. It felt like his blood had run cold, weighing his body down. Billy fell back against the bed and threw an arm over his eyes, a groan escaped his lips and Jean tried to send her reassurance through the hand on his shoulder.

Tommy sighed from his chair and pushed Billy's arm away from his face.

"Don't beat yourself up over it, it was only for like twenty seconds max, the second you went lights out we could all move again. The way that Mr. Logan went from shocked to total badass, it was impressive and no one can say my brother doesn't know how to put on a light show." Billy was not comforted by the teasing in the slightest. He was having an internal panic attack and Tommy was not helping.

"I've talked to the professor, we think the reason that the charge was so concentrated and unfocused was because of the lack of usage of your ability, you're one of the more powerful mutants that we have and it seems like your mutation is based directly on your will so perhaps it would be best to not keep it bottled up. We've suggested to Mr. Logan that he help you take on some additional training." Billy heaved a sigh and sat up once again.

"I'll, I'll talk to him. I need to return the suit anyway." Jean nodded and stood back from the brunette. Billy turned to Tommy as the red haired woman left the room.

"What time is it?" Tommy searched the room for a clock and pointed it out to his brother. He'd only been out for an hour or so.

"Really man, you should have seen it, no one wanted to get near you and Mr. Logan was worried you were dead for a second. Teddy though, just walked right up to you and lifted you into his arms like he was some prince and asked where Mr. Gray's office was. It was so heroic, made a few of the girls swoon." Billy turned red and reached for his cup of water, filled once again with the liquid to aid in rehydrating him.

Without any eloquent rebuttal at the ready Billy simply growled out a "shut up" and kicked his legs over the side of the comfortable bed. His head was still cloudy, but the pressure was passing, just a side effect of whatever he had done. Billy took a breath, exhaled, then another. He pushed up with his arms and attempted to stand, Tommy was at his side the second his legs couldn't take the weight.

"Damn it," Billy didn't like this, the feeling of being weak, not even able to stand on his own because he didn't want to lose a fight. Completely and totally stupid.

"Come on nerd, I'll speed you back to the bunker, you don't want to deal with the other kids right now anyway, not with the buzz being all about you freeze framing half the mansion." Billy was about to protest, but they were already speeding off before he could get a word out. He had to shut his eyes against the blurs and shapes that meant absolutely nothing to his eyes that weren't used to going so fast.

By the time they reached the bunker, only moments later, the brunette was dry heaving – speeding with Tommy always made him want to throw up. The two only had to wait a moment before their combat instructor was there in front of them, arms across his chest and brow raised as he watched Billy, either looking for an explanation as to why he was gasping for breath or for earlier in the day.  
Billy moved to open his mouth, but Logan shot a hand into the air, silencing him.

"Before the words sorry even think to come out of your mouth kid I got one question," Billy nodded, slightly scared, mostly wide-eyed and worried. "You okay?" Billy froze, he hadn't been expecting that. He'd always figured that Logan was more of an ‘accuse now’ then worry about it later type. It was refreshing and snapped the teen out of his stupor. Billy nodded. "Good because we need to talk about an adjusted plan of action."

"I don't want to be a bother, Mr. Logan."

"Kid, you immobilized half the school in less than thirty seconds," Billy really couldn't argue with that.

"What did you have in mind?"

Tommy stayed with them as they talked, taking nearly an hour. Logan had a schedule and so did Billy. It was going to be tough, but Billy had been scared… utterly terrified that he could have hurt people, actually have hurt them instead of simply freezing them. He could have stopped their breathing or their hearts, he hadn't been specific with his chanting and he could have done someone permanent damage.

Billy needed help. They both recognized that.

In the end it was decided Billy would spend another hour after class with the burly man and learn control. They would be joined by the professor occasionally and as well as Mrs. Gray. Billy saw the way that the man across from him had prickled at the idea, but even The Wolverine knew sacrifices were needed. Billy felt bad because it was cutting into the man's free time. Something he didn't seem to get a lot of.

Billy changed from the suit quickly, not remembering a time where he'd wanted to get out of the skin-tight material as much as he did at that moment. Tommy was still waiting for him as he exited the room. It was almost five thirty and Billy felt weak around the knees but the second that Tommy reached out to grab him the brunette stepped back.

"No, no more speeding. I'm walking," Tommy sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. He walked with Billy all the way back to his hall.

While they had walked the halls some students turned their heads and whispered, of course no one attacked him or anything, mutants made mistakes. Children just liked to gossip and it would blow over in a week or so. Still, their stares made Billy's skin itch, like a hundred eyes were trying to wiggle their way inside to see how he worked. It was uncomfortable to say the least.

Tommy left him on his doorstep and the brunette was thankful. He needed a moment to himself so that he could collect his thoughts.

The second that Billy's door shut he was sitting on his bed, hands on his knees and eyes closed in thought. He had his internal freak out in the infirmary, now he needed to collect himself a little. It wasn't that big of a deal, he told himself… right, like stopping nearly a hundred people in their tracks wasn't a big deal. Billy groaned in frustration.

There was a knock on his door, three sharp raps that had him sitting up.

"Come in." He called out.

A moment later the whole of his door frame was being taken up by blonde hair and blue eyes. Something dawned on him, something so entirely worrying he was sure that he was going to have another mini panic. He had frozen Teddy. Teddy had seen what he could do, how powerful he was, he'd probably freaked him out, oh god he'd-

"Dinner's in five, you ready to go?" Billy's brain did a complete one-eighty, he hadn't been expecting that. Then again, Billy wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting. Teddy was just a wholly good person. Billy felt a small amount of shame for even thinking that the other mutant would be angry with him.

"Uh, yeah," Billy stood from his bed and Teddy stepped back into the hall as he closed his door. Together they walked down to the kitchen where Cassie and Eli met them like usual. It felt a little surreal because as they all chatted easily no one for a second mentioned Billy's total power meltdown. He was so relieved he felt like crying.

Aside from the occasional odd glances no one mentioned anything about it for the rest of the night.

The dinner that night, while good, was nothing that Billy would have been excited to eat if he had felt like eating at all. He nibbled on the sides of the ravioli shell and finished off his bottle of water while everyone talked amongst themselves. Beside him, Teddy had finished his food effortlessly and sat looking up at the sky with a fond expression. Billy hadn't realized he was staring till blue eyes met brown and Teddy was giving him a soft smile.

The blonde let out a loud yawn and covered his mouth in embarrassment. It was that moment when Billy remembered his morning class where the sometimes green mutant had fallen asleep.

"Did you not sleep well last night?" Teddy paused at the accusation and turned his head away just slightly.

"I slept fine. Today's just been a bit exhausting is all." Billy could sympathize with that if he wasn't almost positive Teddy was lying. He let it go and nodded, turning back to his less than half finished food he got up and threw it away.  
By the time eight rolled around nearly everyone was getting restless of just sitting in their circle. Cassie and Kate had decided to go back with America to study and Tommy had offered to walk with them, Billy had no doubts that it was to steal Kate away for a moment, Eli headed off to the weight room and Nate mentioned something about seeking Dr. McCoy out in one of the many labs to look over some kind of suit he'd been working on.

It seemed that most nights ended with Billy and Teddy just themselves. It was a comfortable silence, and for the most part, companionable. They walked back towards their hall with only smatterings of a conversation between them, Teddy mentioning something about a comic he'd read and Billy relating that he too had read the same one and it was probably floating somewhere in his room amongst piles of other comics and books.

Teddy dropped Billy off at his room and disappeared into his own. Only when Billy was lying down in his bed did he remember that he should have thanked the blonde for carrying him all the way to the infirmary. Billy knew he wasn't exactly heavy, but he wasn't that light either.

Billy sighed and rolled to his side, eyes catching the pink flower that rested on his table. He brushed a finger against one of the petals and commented once more to himself that he was completely and totally screwed.

The clock read eight thirty when he felt sleep settle into his limbs. Reaching over, Billy clicked off the light and fell into a heavy slumber with the dark void of a dreamless night falling behind his eyelids and the rustle of trees outside his window as a lullaby.

The next time Billy looked at the clock was the world still dark around him and the red numbers blinked one forty-seven in the morning. Billy sat up and rubbed at his eyes. What had woken him? A thump in the hallway sounded and he brought his eyes to his door. Right, that could have been it.

The brunette, still ruffled with sleep, left his bed and opened the door of his room to peer into the barely lit hall. A little ways down from his door he recognized the figure that was trying his hardest to not smack against another wall. The sound of which had woken Billy.

"Teddy?" The brunette whispered out into the hall. Teddy froze and turned around, squinting into the dark to make out the boy who had slipped out his room and closed the door.

"Billy? Did I wake you up?" Billy was beside the blonde in a moment and nodded. "Shit, sorry, I didn't mean to. I kinda tripped and hit a wall." Billy would have laughed if he wasn't trying to figure out exactly what the other boy was doing in the halls at almost two am.

"Is this why you've been tired for the last two days?" Teddy balked under the question and could see the way his shoulders tensed. Teddy shuffled his feet as Billy stared at him, waiting for an answer.

"I, um, I have trouble sleeping in new places. It’s just, well… my mom's house was pretty small and this place is so big, I just, I'm not really good with..." Billy touched a hand to Teddy's arm, the blonde stopped talking.

"Follow me." Teddy did. Billy felt his heart thump nervously as they headed to the stairs. It was dark and eerily quiet in the mansion as Billy lead the blonde boy up three flights of steps as quickly as possible.

The third floor of the mansion was where one of the only access points to the roof was.

He didn't want to try and float both he and Teddy up from the ground. Not only would that be stupid, it would most likely end very badly. Billy's powers were still weak from the burst he'd used less than twelve hours before, he wasn't going to risk it.

Billy reached the small door at the end of the hall labled "maintenance." Billy tested the door knob and was unsurprised to find that it was locked. Teddy was silent behind him. Billy squared his shoulders and felt the small tendril of a spark rise to his fingers, the veins beneath his skin bled bright blue for a moment and then the door was open. Billy felt dizzy for a good second, realizing right then just how drained he actually was. Yeah, trying to float them wouldn't have been a good idea.

Billy opened the door and ushered for Teddy to go ahead of him so that he could close the door behind them. Teddy moved up the stairs a little ways and sent Billy a questioning look; the brunette just nodded and started up the steep steps behind him.

When they reached the sealed hatch for the roof Billy moved to step in front of the blonde and shivered slightly as they brushed together. Teddy was all solid and warm and Billy really didn't need to be thinking any of that as he felt another tendril of energy press from the tips of his fingers and into the lock. It popped open a moment later. Billy took a moment to recover before lifting the hatch and stepping out into the stale night air.

Teddy followed behind him, so close that Billy could feel the blonde's body heat radiate against his skin, nearly touching but not. Teddy sucked in a breath as he saw the property unfold all at once in front of his eyes. Billy, hesitant, placed a hand on the blonde's wrist and pulled him towards the edge of the roof where there was a small wall that reached Billy's knees.

The brunette sat down pulling Teddy with him and rested his elbows against the rocky texture of the wall. The small forest and lake were directly in view– it was Billy's favorite angle of the school. There was no contest.

Teddy was silent beside him and Billy figured he ought to explain why he'd dragged the other boy up to the roof.

"I, um, I had problems the first couple of months. I didn't sleep a lot, Tommy was there, he was adjusting a lot better than me, but I still wasn't used to it. We've been here since we were eight and he was always better at adapting to things than I was. One day I, I almost set   
Tommy on fire. I ran away and I found this place, the roof. It helped me calm down; to see that I'm a little bit smaller and that I couldn't possibly hold all the weight I'd been carrying because I was just a tiny point in all of this." Billy gestures his hands, trying his best to explain.

"Tommy found me an hour later and punched me for good measure. I actually slept the next night and I guess I just thought maybe this might help with your sleeping, or you could be an insomniac and I could literally be blathering at this point." Billy cast his eyes to Teddy and was met with a warm smile. It made Billy's insides go a little crazy and the metaphorical "butterflies'' had never made as much sense as they did at that moment.

Teddy took in a breath and Billy could see his muscles relax slightly as he cast his blue gaze back to the view of the grounds.

"I don't sleep well in new places. Eventually, I have to, but, well, this place is different because if I fall asleep in Dr. McCoy's class I could get mauled," Billy chuckled softly and Teddy had an amused smile. "I don't do really well alone. I've only ever lived with my mom and like I said our place was small. I always knew she was just in the next room if I needed her. It's hard, not really knowing people are near you."   
Teddy let out a sigh; the weight of what he'd been carrying around with him seemed to fall off his shoulders. It showed in the way his tense posture melted just a little.

"I'm here." Billy wanted to clamp a hand over his mouth and curse his lips for moving without his own filter. Teddy turned his head towards the brunette and cast him a grateful look, like that was exactly what he needed to hear.

"Yeah, you are." Billy noted the soft way that Teddy had phrased his words and it made the brunette feel warm again. Teddy often made him feel like this. Like comfort, like peace.

They sat there in silence for a few moments before Billy laid back against the roof, arms under his head to support it. Teddy followed his example a few moments later. Billy spoke first, into the void of the night.

"I'm sorry about what happened during combat."

"Why?" Billy turned his head to look at the blonde with an incredulous look.

"I froze half the school, I froze you, I could have hurt someone, and then you had to carry me to Mrs. Gray," Teddy colored a little, "why shouldn't I be sorry? Something bad could have happened to you, to everyone." Billy felt the calm that the roof provided slip into something more along the lines of guilt.

Teddy gave him a look, only one and it stopped those thoughts in an instant. Billy had never seen such a storm of emotions in another person's eyes. Not like Teddy's.

"You, it's like you don't see all this amazing power you have. Like you don't see the way you can do so much. You see all this bad just because you did something incredible. You could change the anything with words alone and you could probably hold the world in your hands because you're so much stronger than you think you are and you take the burden of so many people's problems on your shoulders and you don't even stop to look at your own until you do something remarkable." Billy felt like his body was on fire just from the passion alone in Teddy's voice. No one had ever talked to him like that before, no one had praised his powers like Teddy was, not even himself and it made his hands shake.

"I almost killed two people with this mutation you think is so amazing." Billy whispered the words past his lips. He couldn't see his powers like Teddy did and he wondered how long he would until he could see the damage Billy could do.

"And I broke someone's collarbone in three places during a basketball game because I got too excited. We're teenagers with the powers of gods and heroes and we should be expected to make mistakes, the important part is you didn't kill them and you learned more control because of it. Being a teenager is already hard enough but being one with such a powerful mutation… I can't imagine what you feel sometimes, but I know that you wouldn't hurt someone if you didn't want to." Teddy's words struck around his heart as though he   
knew how to pull every nerve in his body and made him feel so much with so little.

He didn't know what to say, didn't know what to feel. All he knew was Teddy Altman was a completely and total unfair being.

"I- I don't, I can't, how, how are you real?" Billy didn't mean for it to sound so bewildered, but that's how it came out. Because really, how was Teddy even allowed to exist? Probably to torture Billy's fragile psyche with his wonderfulness.

Teddy chuckled and reached for one of the hands that had fallen to Billy's side. The blonde laced their fingers together and Billy was sure that his heart was going to stop. Teddy was looking at him with his stupidly blue eyes like he was some kind of gift to the world and was holding his hand like he wasn't sure Billy was going to pull away or not and it was so frustrating because Billy knew what was happening and he couldn't even let himself think about the implications. He groaned and rolled onto his side, bringing himself closer to the blonde and gave his larger hand a squeeze.

"You just, you need to stop being unfairly perfect okay because I don't think my brain can actually take it at two in the morning." Teddy chuckled again and they were brought back into the silence that night provided and the warmth that their bodies produced as they lay close together.

Billy spoke up a few minutes later.

"You wanna head back?" Billy turned his head back the blonde who was still holding his hand. "Teddy?"

The other boy was asleep, head tucked over his arm and eyes closed, a peaceful expression washed over his face and Billy smiled. He would figure out what all this meant in the morning. The brunette closed his eyes and drifted off alongside the other mutant.

His last thought of the morning was maybe, just maybe, Teddy Altman was just what he needed. No matter how unfair the universe had made him.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that was a trip. I hope you all enjoyed those fumbly nerds (even though there wasn't kissing or anything.) Thank you for reading and I look forward to you reading what will come next off the Billy and Teddy list of ideas :)


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